It’s a task almost seven years in the making but various officials of the
Indiana Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and the Indiana Dunes State
Park can finally see the completion of the Dunes Creek daylighting project
near the Indiana Dunes Pavilion parking area.

At a dedication ceremony Wednesday, DNR State Parks and Reservoirs Director
Dan Bortner said the agency has finished the project’s second and final
phase that will restore Dunes Creek to a natural stream after 80 years of
being channeled through an 84-inch culvert pipe buried below two separate
parking lots.

DNR Director of Engineering Dale Gick said it was his predecessor, former
DNR engineer director Tom Hohman, who initiated the restoration effort in
November 2005. The DNR proceeded to daylight (a process of exposing a hidden
or burred stream to natural light) an 825-foot section of the creek and
created a wetland after removing a 150-car overflow parking lot that had
fallen into poor condition. Park staff assisted in building an ADA
accessible boardwalk and picnic deck.

Work for Phase 1 was funded through the DNR’s Lake Michigan Coastal Program.

Phase 2 started a couple of years later, Gick said, when 16 inches of rain
fell over a span of four days in Fall 2008, causing extensive damage to the
northeast corner of the pavilion parking lot. DNR officials felt that
instead of replacing the parking spaces, they would seize the opportunity to
finish restoring the final 700 feet of Dunes Creek where it enters Lake
Michigan.

A $1.4 million grant of federal stimulus money administered by the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Restoration Center was obtained to
help cover expenses. A bridge and sidewalk were opened up for pedestrians.
Members of the Department of Transportation were given credit for their
engineering work.

Other firms who participated in the project include Garriup Construction, of
Merrillville, and the Troyer Group architectural firm, of Mishawaka.

“(The park) is not just about swimming. It’s about understanding the natural
world,” said Gick.

The project has won awards from the Chicago Wilderness Society and the
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Award for Environmental
Association of Conservation Engineers from Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels, and
the Izaak Walton League “Jane Dustin Water Quality Award” among others, Gick
said.

Although the parking areas for visitors have been reduced, which results in
lower weekend attendance, the park has seen increased revenues due to the
increased weekday visitations and operational improvement for a better park
experience, said John Davis, DNR Deputy for Local Management.

“Customer service is part of what we do here,” he said.

The park has also decreased its number of campsites from 290 to 140.

A ribbon cutting ceremony followed the presentation. Leading the crowd in
the national anthem were members of the Chesterton High School Band.

Algae wheels
turn in new

wastewater
treatment plant

In their addresses, the speakers dropped a few hints about things to come.

One project “not quite done yet” but up and running is the park’s new
wastewater treatment plant which uses an algae wheel system developed by the
Indianapolis-based Algae Wheel Inc. Providing further construction was
Thieneman Construction, of Merrillville.

The new plant is among the first of ten such facilities constructed in the
United States and, according to Dunes State Park Assistant Property Manager
Doug Stukey, will use 75 percent less energy than the previous plant. The
former, which was removed last winter, existed for 40 years and was costly
to operate.

Leading a tour of the new facility, Stukey said the treatment process is
similar to septic tank and leach field systems. The system uses roughly
17,000 emitters to drain the water into two fields for further removal of
impurities.

When wastewater enters the plant, it first moves through a system of
clarifiers and equalizers, where wastes are allowed to settle prior to
entering the series of algae wheels.

Each wheel and its components are made of UV stabilized reprocessed plastics
and is rotated using a constant air flow, requiring no mechanical system for
it to turn, providing the proper environment for algae to grow.

Algae on the wheels use sunlight for photosynthesis. The algae then works
with bacteria in symbiotic fashion. Carbon dioxide from the air is taken by
the algae and is converted into oxygen which changes the nitrogen and
phosphorus from the wastewater into plant mass. Bacteria then use the oxygen
to convert organic material into carbon dioxide for the algae.

The result is treated water ready for reuse. The biomass formed in the
process can be used as fertilizer and other things.

Stukey said the plant can handle up to 35,000 gallons of wastewater daily
which is typically the amount during the summer months. There is less
sunlight in the winter to power the system but Stukey said it would not be a
problem since there is significantly less wastewater in the winter, about
5,000 gallons per day.

Park staff wants to add on to the facility and Stukey said he hopes to add
two more drain fields for a total of four.

State Park Interpretive Naturalist Brad Bumgardner said the plant is a test
model for the algae wheel technology and it may become more commonly seen at
other parks or cities and towns.

Stukley said the plants are expensive to set up but save money overall
because they use three-fourths less energy.

New bird watch
tower

Speakers Wednesday also made mention of a new bird observation tower near
the west parking lot were the former water tower used to be.

Bumgarder took a tour group to the site where the tower will be built.
Construction officially began on June 1 and a concrete foundation has been
formed. Steel work will begin early next week, Bumgardner said, and
estimated the project will be finished sometime this fall, complete with a
spiral staircase and a handicap accessible boardwalk.

The new tower and wastewater plant both compliment the overall goals of the
park, Bumgarder said. “We can produce recreation and still preserve and
protect. It’s such a balance to do.”

A second bird watch tower already exists on park property near Trail 10
overlooking the marsh.

In another announcement, Bortner said the DNR began negotiations this week
with a party interested in refurbishing the historic Dunes Pavilion into a
restaurant and banquet hall.